Economy Minister Levan Davitashvili agreed with PM Irakli Garibashvili’s statement that Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region have been occupied for 14 years.
“The Prime Minister knows everything very well – we cannot run away from facts, we cannot hide them, we cannot delete the fact that an important part of Abkhazia – the Kodori Gorge – was lost exactly in this period [in 2008],” the Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development, Levan Davitashvili told journalists, who asked him about the Prime Minister’s post related to the August 2008 war.
Prime Minister wrote:
“14 years have passed since the beginning of the war of August 2008, which claimed the lives of many of our fellow citizens… I bow to the memory of our heroic soldiers and civilians who died in the war of August.”
Irakli Garibashvili also wrote that “for 14 years, the heart of our country – Samachablo, Tskhinvali region and Abkhazia has been occupied by Russia”, which was followed by criticism from the public and politicians.
The central government of Georgia has lost effective control over a certain part of the country’s territory for a longer time. In particular, Tbilisi lost control over Sokhumi in the fall of 1993, after the 1992-93 conflict.
